Application Note AN 2013-03

V1.0 March 2013

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design
IFAT PMM APS SE SL
Di Domenico Francesco
Mente Ren

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Edition 2013-03-14
Published by
Infineon Technologies Austria AG
9500 Villach, Austria
Infineon Technologies Austria AG 2013.
All Rights Reserved.
Attention please!
THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THIS APPLICATION NOTE IS GIVEN AS A HINT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES COMPONENT ONLY AND SHALL NOT BE REGARDED
AS ANY DESCRIPTION OR WARRANTY OF A CERTAIN FUNCTIONALITY, CONDITION OR QUALITY
OF THE INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES COMPONENT. THE RECIPIENT OF THIS APPLICATION NOTE
MUST VERIFY ANY FUNCTION DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE REAL APPLICATION. INFINEON
TECHNOLOGIES HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND LIABILITIES OF ANY KIND
(INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS OF ANY THIRD PARTY) WITH RESPECT TO ANY AND ALL INFORMATION
GIVEN IN THIS APPLICATION NOTE.
Information
For further information on technology, delivery terms and conditions and prices please contact your
nearest Infineon Technologies Office (www.infineon.com).
Warnings
Due to technical requirements components may contain dangerous substances. For information on the
types in question please contact your nearest Infineon Technologies Office. Infineon Technologies
Components may only be used in life-support devices or systems with the express written approval of
Infineon Technologies, if a failure of such components can reasonably be expected to cause the failure of
that life-support device or system, or to affect the safety or effectiveness of that device or system. Life
support devices or systems are intended to be implanted in the human body, or to support and/or maintain
and sustain and/or protect human life. If they fail, it is reasonable to assume that the health of the user or
other persons may be endangered.
AN 2013-03
Revision History: date (13-03-14) , V1.0
Previous Version: none
Subjects: none
Authors: IFAT PMM APS SE SL
Di Domenico Francesco
Mente Ren
We Listen to Your Comments
Any information within this document that you feel is wrong, unclear or missing at all? Your feedback will
help us to continuously improve the quality of this document. Please send your proposal (including a
reference to this document) to: [ francesco.didomenico@infineon.com; rene.mente@infineon.com ]

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Table of contents

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
2 IFX board and main components ............................................................................................................... 4
3 Principle of operation .................................................................................................................................. 7
4 Design procedure ........................................................................................................................................ 9
4.1

General design overview ................................................................................................................... 9

4.2

ZVS behavior: right and left leg ....................................................................................................... 10

4.3

Output voltage regulation at 54VDC up to 2kW ............................................................................... 13

4.3.1

Reduction of external RG .................................................................................................. 16

4.3.2

Increasing the slope of the primary current Iprim ................................................................ 16

4.4

Synchronous rectification ................................................................................................................. 18

4.5

Benefits given by CFD2 technology in ZVS board design ............................................................... 21

4.6

Further improvement: adaptive delays setting ................................................................................. 24

5 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 24
6 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. 25

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design
1

V1.0 March 2013

Introduction

In modern power electronics applications, there is a growing need for high efficiency combined with high
power density. This combination is not easy to achieve and this definitely represents the most important tradeoff challenge for power converter design. In fact, the simplest way to reduce the size especially of magnetic
components is to increase the switching frequency, but unfortunately this normally involves an increase of
switching losses, and so worse efficiency. One way to improve the trade-off relation is to use soft switching
topologies. The main benefit of these topologies is to minimize the losses generated by the power devices
(1)
(2)
during switching transitions. The ZVS phase shift full bridge used in IFX board achieves this reduction of
(3)
losses due to a zero voltage turn-on of the MOSFET s. In this design the ZVS operation is maintained from
full load down to very light load.
This paper is going to show in a step by step approach how to achieve highest efficiency in a ZVS topology
TM
(IFX board) using the new CoolMOS
IPW65R080CFD. The main features and benefits of this new
TM
Superjunction MOSFET are documented in the application note 650V CoolMOS
CFD2 released by
Infineon in February 2011. All possible adjustments like delay times, dimensioning of the resonant inductance,
(4)
variances of RG,ext , optimization of primary-secondary MOSFETs delays are going to be explained in detail in
the present paper.
The purpose of this paper is to give electrical design engineers with fundamental knowledge of the ZVS phase
shift principle of operation the general guidelines to optimize the design of this topology using the new IFX
TM
CoolMOS CFD2 series. For these reasons the mathematical content and all the design calculation details
will be intentionally not analyzed in this document, whose main focus is on the waveforms analysis in a real
application board.
Before starting with the measurements and optimization for the IPW65R080CFD on a given setup the
following chapter is going to illustrate the IFX board and the main components.

IFX board and main components

(5)

The following figure represents the new developed ZVS DC /DC converter for telecom rectifiers with an
output voltage from 45VDC to 56VDC and an output power of 2kW. This converter works with an input voltage
between 300VDC and 420VDC (typical 385VDC) and a switching frequency of 100kHz on the primary side.

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

190mm
100mm

Figure 1: IFX ZVS phase shift full bridge

Figure 2: schematic of the IFX board (primary side, secondary side)

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Figure 3: main parts on the IFX board

Figure 2 and Figure 3 illustrate the placement of the main parts in a schematic representation and on the
(6)
assembled PCB .
(1) Primary MOSFETs IPW65R080CFD:
The used switches in the full bridge on the primary side are the new IPW65R080CFD which are most
(7)
suitable for resonant topologies due to their ease of use behavior, low RDS(on) and their integrated
fast body diode. This fast body diode is an important feature to prevent failures in the used topology
during short circuit, line cycle drop out or burst mode. (MOSFET A, B, C, D)
(2) Resonant inductance:
This resonant inductance is realized using a 77894-A7 Magnetics Inc. Kool-M material. This
document is also going to illustrate that it is very important to have a correct dimensioning of this
inductance.
(3) Main transformer:
The used main transformer is a PQ40/40 ferrite core, 3C96 material with a winding partitioning of 20
turns on the primary side and 4 plus 4 turns on the secondary side in a center tapped configuration.
(4) Output inductance:
In order to have a low current ripple on the output inductance and taking into account the actual
maximum duty cycle available, a value of 18H has been designed. The used core is a 55083-A2
Magnetics Inc. Molypermalloy material.
(5) Output capacitance:
(8)
Low ESR capacitances needed for high efficiency applications (Nippon-Chemicon miniature ultra
low impedance LXV series).

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

(6) Synchronous rectification MOSFETs:

TM
(9)
The IFX ZVS phase shift full bridge uses two paralleled OptiMOS IPP110N20N3 (200V V(BR)DSS
with 11m RDS(on)). (MOSFET E, F)
(7) Controller for primary and secondary: Texas Instruments UCC28950
(8) Trim potentiometers for adjusting the delay times on the primary and secondary side
After the short explanation of the main parts of the IFX board the next chapter is going to describe the
principle of operation of this topology.

Principle of operation

This chapter introduces the principle of operation by describing the different phases of the current flow
through the circuit on a simplified schematic.

Figure 4: ZVS phase shift full bridge principle of operation phase 1 - 4

(1) Power transfer phase:
MOSFET A and D are turned on and the current is flow looks like in the figure. During this phase the
primary current is rising accordingly to the value of the total primary inductance
(2) The second phase is responsible for the zero voltage switching of MOSFET C. In order to reach a
zero voltage turn-on the energy stored in the resonant inductance is used to discharge the output
capacitance of MOSFET C and charge the output capacitance of MOSFET D.

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

(3) After the output capacitance of MOSFET C is discharged the current is commutating to the body
diode of the MOSFET C. This body diode conduction time should be minimized in order to reduce
additional losses.
(4) In phase 4 MOSFET C is actively turned on and the current is flowing through the channel and not
through the body diode anymore. This phase is the so called freewheeling phase
(5) In order to start a new power transfer phase MOSFET B is turned ON. This phase is done in the same
way as phase 2 by turning off MOSFET A. The output capacitance of MOSFET A is charged and the
output capacitance of MOSFET B is discharged before actively switching on the MOSFET.
(6) The body diode conduction time of MOSFET B, which is visible in this phase, should also be reduced
to a minimum as in phase 3.
(7) MOSFET B is actively turned on, the current changes its direction and the next power transfer phase
starts.

Figure 5: ZVS phase shift full bridge principle of operation phase 5 - 7

The following figure represents the idealized control signals for the primary full bridge, which correspond to
the different phases.

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

(1)

V1.0 March 2013

(4)

(7)

(1)

(2)-(3) (5)-(6)

(4)

(7)

(2)-(3) (5)-(6)

Figure 6: control signals for primary full bridge

Furthermore, figure 6 shows that phase (2)-(3) is much faster than phase (5)-(6). This behavior comes from
the available energy which is stored in the resonant inductance to discharge the output capacitance of the
MOSFETs. It is easier to achieve ZVS for MOSFETs C and D, since they switch on after a power transfer
(10)
phase where more energy is stored in the LR .
Now that the principle of operation is well known this paper continues with the main part of this document with
the design procedure to optimize the board for CFD2.

Design procedure

4.1

General design overview

Key points in a ZVS FS FB design are:

dimensioning of the resonant inductance with reference to the minimum load at which ZVS is
required and the output capacitance of the used MOSFETs

setting of delay or dead time between the conduction of the switches on the same leg.

dimensioning of proper external RG

commutation behavior

setting of delay between primary and synchronous rectification MOSFETs conduction, in order to
minimize body diode conduction on secondary side

dimensioning the main transformer in order to guarantee duty cycle availability at any load and input
voltage condition, taking into account the actual duty cycle window determined by the combination of
the total primary inductance (and so the slope of primary current) with the chosen values of delay
(12)
times and RG,ext

setting the transformer turn ratio in a way to minimize the reverse voltage peak on synchronous
(13)
rectification MOSFETs, which allows to use the lowest possible VDS
range and so the lowest
possible RDS(on)

(11)

for each switch, taking into account its impact on the

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

The main goal of this document is to find the best compromise among these key points based on the
characteristics of the used MOSFETs, the new IFX CFD2 series.
Considering the requirements of all recent worldwide standards in matter of light load efficiency, typically the
first decision is related to the minimum load where full ZVS is achieved. This mainly involves the resonant
inductance design, in combination with delay time and external gate resistances setting.
In order to achieve full ZVS at least at 20% maximum load, the calculated starting values are the following:

LR 52H
RG ,on

(14)

RG ,off

( L R resonant inductance)
(15)

( RG ,on external gate resistor at turn-on; RG ,off external gate resistor at

turn-off)

This paper is going to show how these settings, needed for ZVS, impact on the actual duty cycle available for
(16)
the output regulation at any VIN
and load condition and how it is eventually possible to find the best
compromise for the CFD2 devices.
An important role in high efficiency target achievement is played by the secondary synchronous rectification.
In the first design step the synchronous rectification on the secondary side has been disabled, and the
rectification is done by using the body diodes of the MOSFETs. The reason for this is to be initially focused
only on the primary settings by being independent from the secondary side.

4.2

ZVS behavior: right and left leg

As well known, the two legs of the full bridge behave differently with reference to the ZVS. The right leg starts
its transition at the end of a power transfer phase. This means that there is more energy stored in LR and
therefore more energy available to discharge the MOSFETs output capacitance. The left leg starts the
transition at the end of a free-wheeling phase, which results in less available energy.
There are two ways to identify each of the two legs. The main indicator whether there is a zero voltage
(17)
switching or not is the presence of a Miller-plateau on the VGS
waveform. The following figure represents a
non ZVS behavior of leg A/B clearly visible due to the Miller-plateau.

10

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

VGS
Miller-plateau

VDS

Figure 7: non ZVS behavior of leg A/B

Now it is possible to increase the delay time between MOSFET A and B which results in a shift of the gate
signal to the right direction. If it is not possible to remove the Miller-plateau even with the highest delay time,
then there is not enough energy stored in the resonant inductance to completely discharge the output
capacitance of the MOSFET. In this case it is needed to increase the output load in order to increase this
amount of energy: in fact the energy stored in the resonant inductance is depending on the primary current
which is also dependent on the output current based on the main transformer turn ratio. After some
(18)
(19)
measurements it was possible to reach a ZVS at POUT =450W with a delay time tdel_A/B 520ns. The next
figure shows this approach.

11

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

VGS
no Miller-plateau
visible

VDS

Figure 8: ZVS of leg A/B at 450W output power

Now it is possible to do the same measurement on the second leg C/D. The result of this analysis shows that
it is possible to reach ZVS at 320W, so at lower load compared to A/B, because there is more energy stored
in LR.
The second way to analyze the different behavior of the two legs is by looking at the waveforms of the VDS of
MOSFET B, MOSFET D and the voltage drop over the main transformer on the primary side. For this analysis
it is needed to completely understand the principle of ZVS phase shift full bridge operation. The following
figure represents this investigation.

12

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Vmain_trafo
VDS (B)
VDS (D)

free
wheeling

power transfer

free
wheeling

Figure 9: C/D leading leg confirmation

Figure 6 illustrates that a power transfer phase starts with C and B simultaneously ON: the bulk voltage
(400V) is applied on the primary side of the main transformer. At the end of this power transfer phase, in
sequence MOSFET C switches OFF and then the discharge of the output capacitance of MOSFET D starts by
(20)
using the energy stored in the total primary inductance: this energy is the maximum possible, because Iprim
is at its maximum value. It has been demonstrated that the right leg C/D transition starts after a power transfer
phase.
After the VDS of MOSFET D is zero, the ZVS turn-on of MOSFET D will take place. At this point a freewheeling phase starts, where the primary of the main transformer is short circuited, then the MOSFET A
turn-on command arrives. In other words, the A/B leg transition starts after a free-wheeling phase, so with
lower value of Iprim and therefore less available energy to discharge the output capacitance.
Finally, it is possible to say, that this stage has full ZVS at a minimum of 450W on both legs, which
corresponds to about 22% of maximum output power. So the first goal regarding the minimum ZVS load is
achieved, as per calculation.
The next step is the verification that it is possible to regulate the output voltage at 54VDC up to an output
power of 2kW in the assigned range of VIN.

4.3

Output voltage regulation at 54VDC up to 2kW

(21)

To ensure that this stage is able to regulate the output voltage V OUT at 54VDC up to 2kW it is necessary to
check if there is enough duty cycle available. It is possible to predict the available actual duty cycle by
mathematical calculations, but this evaluation is done by the measurement of primary waveforms. In fact, the
available duty cycle can be analyzed by measuring the primary current (Iprim) and the voltage drop over the
(22)
main transformer (Vmain_trafo ) on the primary side.
13

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

The following figure represents the duty cycle margin available for the regulation at an output load of 8.22A
(POUT443W).

Vmain_trafo

Iprim
available duty cycle
margin for regulation

Figure 10: available duty cycle at 443W

The result of an increasing output load is a reduction of the available duty cycle margin which is illustrated in
figure 8.

14

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Vmain_trafo

Iprim
reduction of available
duty cycle margin

Figure 11: reduction of duty cycle margin at 650W

The next step is to increase the output power up to 2kW. When POUT reaches about 1183W VOUT begins to
decrease, because the max actual duty cycle has been reached: this means that the regulation of the output
voltage over 1183W is not possible anymore. The following figure shows the reason for this behavior.

Vmain_trafo

Iprim
no duty cycle
margin available

Figure 12: no duty cycle margin available at 1183W

15

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

It is clearly visible that the regulation of VOUT is not possible due to the duty cycle limiting. A possible way to
recover duty cycle is by reducing the turn-on and turn-off delay times. This reduction can be done by reducing
the external RG,on and RG,off.

4.3.1 Reduction of external RG

The ZVS phase shift full bridge has a hard switching turn-off so it is only reasonable to change the external
RG,off to 0. RG,on is changed to 2.7 and not 0 in order to guarantee good commutation behavior.
Due to the change of the external RG we are able to reduce the total transition time and so extend the
available duty cycle window of about 100ns: which leads, after adjusting the delay times, into a regulated load
increase of about 100W: this is also not enough for the 2kW stage.
Now the question arises: what else has an influence on the duty cycle?
By analyzing figure 9 there can be only one answer. The best way to gain duty cycle is by increasing the slope
of the primary current when changing direction.

4.3.2 Increasing the slope of the primary current Iprim

The increase of the slope of the primary current during change of direction can be done by decreasing the
inductance in the current path on the primary side This can be realized by declining the amount of primary
turns of the main transformer, but this leads also to some drawbacks like increasing the peak voltage on the
rectification MOSFETs and an increase of magnetizing current. For this reason this is not an option because it
TM
would be necessary to use 250V OptiMOS parts for the rectification. These implementation would double
the RDS(on) which results in a reduction of efficiency at heavier loads. Another possibility, currently
implemented, is to reduce the resonant inductance, in this case from 52uH to 30uH. This change brings a
drawback in reaching the ZVS at light load because there would be less energy stored in LR. After
readjustment of the delay times the stage achieves full ZVS on both primary legs at 487W which corresponds
to about 24.4% of maximum load. This value can be considered still acceptable.
The following figure shows the slope difference between a LR=52H and LR=30H at 1283W.

16

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Iprim
Vmain_trafo

di/dt7.5A/s

Iprim
Vmain_trafo

di/dt12.5A/s

gained
duty cycle

Figure 13: Iprim comparison with LR=52H (upper) and 30H (lower)
It is clearly visible that with 52H there is a di/dt of about 7.5A/s in comparison to 30H with a di/dt of about
12.5A/s. This gives enough duty cycle margin for reaching 2kW output power.
Figure 11 represents the primary current and the voltage drop over the main transformer when the converter
is running at 2kW with 54VDC output voltage.

17

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Iprim
Vmain_trafo

Figure 14: IFX ZVS phase shift full bridge running at 2kW with 54VDC output voltage
All these measurements were done using diode rectification in order to be firstly focused on primary settings,
without influence from the secondary stage. Now the synchronous rectification is going to be activated.
The next chapter is going to explain how it is possible to optimize the delay times for the synchronous
rectification and by the end the efficiency curve over the whole load range will be represented.

4.4

Synchronous rectification
(23)

In order to optimize the delay time for the synchronous rectification (SR ) MOSFETs, with the goal to finally
get the best possible efficiency, it is necessary to actively switch the MOSFETs on and off so that the current
is flowing as long as possible through the channel and not through the body diode. For safety reasons the
delay time must be adjusted at the minimum load at which the synchronous rectification is activated.
Otherwise there is a risk of destruction of the parts when decreasing the load due to an overlap of VGS and
VDS.

18

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Figure 12 shows an example where the delay time is not optimized.

VGS (E)
VDS (E)
VDS (F)
Vmain_trafo

body diode conduction time

VGS(th)

Figure 15: delay on SR not optimized

As mentioned before, to optimize the delay of the synchronous rectification it is necessary to reduce the body
diode conduction time. To do this we can adjust the delay time in order to shift the turn off of the MOSFET E
as close as possible to the point when the VDS of MOSFET E starts to increase (figure 16).

19

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

VGS (E)
VDS (E)
Vmain_trafo

VGS(th)

Figure 16: delay on SR optimized

Why is it necessary to do this measurement at the minimum load when the synchronous rectification starts to
operate? At heavier loads the front of VDS of MOSFET E is shifting in the right direction. By adjusting the delay
time at heavier loads and then decreasing the load leads to a shift of VDS in the left direction which results in a
VGS and VDS overlap. This can destroy the part because the channel is still on when the VDS is ramping up
The last figure of this application note illustrates the efficiency curve after optimization of the synchronous
rectification.

Efficiency plot of IFX ZVS phase shift full bridge

98
EFFICIENCY [%]

97,5
97

96.5%

96,5

IPW65R080CFD

96.2%

96

95.3%

95,5
95
94,5
94
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

OUTPUT POWER [W]

Figure 17: efficiency of IFX ZVS phase shift full bridge with IPW65R080CFD

20

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

4.5

V1.0 March 2013

Benefits given by CFD2 technology in ZVS board design

As mentioned in the introduction, the main benefits of CFD2 technology have been already described in
TM
details in the application note 650V CoolMOS CFD2 released by Infineon in February 2011. In this
paragraph the special features making CFD2 attractive for ZVS phase shift full bridge are highlighted.
(25)
First of all, CFD2 has been introduced with the goal to reduce the typical Qg by 30% over the whole RDS(on)
range compared with previous CFD (see figure 18).

Figure 18: Qg comparison CFD2 vs. CFD

The graph below (figure 19) shows the impact of Qg by the increase on the ZVS window.

21

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Figure 19: simplified ZVS window depending on Qg at same delay time

The figure illustrates that with a lower Qg a larger ZVS window is given with the same delay time at turning
OFF. On the other way around, it allows to decrease the delay time keeping the same ZVS window, which
also gives the benefit to increase the actual duty cycle and to shorten the conduction time of the body diode.
It is possible to demonstrate by calculation that, in IFX ZVS Board, by using RG,off=0. RG,on=2.7 the
reduction of 30% of Qg leads to a reduction of the total transition time by around 50nsec, which means around
1% of increase of actual maximum duty cycle. This means also more margin in available regulation window
and lower Iprim(rms), which results in a reduction of conduction losses and increase in efficiency especially at
maximum load where conduction losses are the most important part, as showed in the figure below:

Primary 80m CFD2

losses @Pmax

3%
2%

14.5%
Conduction Losses

80.5%

Turn on losses
Turn off losses
Driving losses

(26)

Figure 20: losses spread of the primary MOSFETs at Pmax

Moreover, in the following figure, it is possible to see the losses spread on each full bridge MOSFET at 10% of
maximum load:

22

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

Primary 80m CFD2

losses @10%Pmax 100Khz
2%

13%

Conduction Losses

28%

57%

Turn on losses
Turn off losses
Driving losses

Figure 21: losses spread of the primary MOSFETs at 10% of P max

So at 10% of maximum load the driving losses are most important and Qg is the key parameter in the driving
losses: in IFX board specific application, it has been calculated that a reduction of Qg by 30% leads to an
increase of efficiency by 0.3% at 10% Pmax.
The same benefit at light load comes from the reduced EOSS, parameter more related the VDS transition time,
which contributes together with the turn-off delay time (Qg related) to the total transition time (so called ZVS
window).On the other way around, having assigned the minimum load for the ZVS (in our case 24%Pmax),
(27)
using devices with bigger EOSS involves the use of higher value of LR.
The second important benefit given by CFD2 technology is the reduction of the typical trr

(28)

of the body diode.

Figure 22: Qrr comparison of low side MOSFET in a half bridge configuration
(29)

The diagram in figure 22 illustrates the Qrr

value of CFD2 in comparison to CFD and a competitor
technology by showing the example of 80m product. It is visible that CFD2 has the lowest Q rr values from
10A to 25A in a half bridge configuration with a supply voltage of 400V. The high side switch is used to load
the inductance to the specified current. After switching OFF the high side MOSFET the current is commutating
to the body diode of the low side MOSFET which corresponds to the device under test.

23

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

This second feature brings benefits in efficiency by reducing the losses due to body diode conduction, but also
improves the reliability of this device under critical working conditions, like start-up, overload or short circuit
protection, burst mode operation, in which the body diode is heavily involved. It has been demonstrated, that
in these conditions a key parameter to guarantee safe operation is the trr of the body diode, which must be as
low as possible. This topic has been widely described by the technical literature and is out of the scope of this
paper.

4.6

Further improvement: adaptive delays setting

By using special features available in standard controllers (like the UCC28950 from TI) or DSPs it is possible
to adapt the primary and secondary delay times in function of the output load. In particular, as the load
(30)
increases, the tdel_A/B and tdel_C/D
will be accordingly decreased on the primary side while the delay time on
the synchronous rectification MOSFETs will be increased. This will allow reducing the body diode conduction
time to a minimum, both on the full bridge and the synchronous rectification MOSFETs, helping to further
optimize the efficiency under any load condition. In fact, this adaptive delay has been only simulated in our
investigations by optimizing by trimmer the SR delay time only at the load corresponding to the maximum
efficiency area (800W), which resulted in further ~0.2% increase of efficiency.
The second advantage of the adaptive delay is that it allows gaining additional duty cycle portions, useful for
the regulation at maximum load, therefore increasing the design margin room versus the possible tolerances
in the main transformer construction and coupling.

Summary
TM

In the present paper the performance of the new CFD2 CoolMOS MOSFET (IPW65R080CFD) in a 2kW
ZVS phase shift full bridge converter (IFX board) has been analyzed.
General guidelines about the design optimization have been given with the purpose to get the maximum
possible benefit out of this new devices usage. In fact this document has to be considered as natural
TM
extension of the Application Note - 650V CoolMOS CFD2 released by Infineon in February 2011.
By using fixed delay times both on primary and secondary sides a peak efficiency of 96.42% has been
achieved. It can be increased up to 96.6% using adaptive delay setting. Moreover full ZVS has been
guaranteed down to around 24% of maximum load.

24

Application Note AN 2013-03

ZVS Phase Shift Full Bridge

CFD2 Optimized Design

V1.0 March 2013

List of Abbreviations

(1)

ZVS

zero voltage switching

(2)

IFX

Infineon Technologies AG

(3)

MOSFET

metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor

(4)

RG,ext

external gate resistor

(5)

DC

direct current

(6)

PCB

printed circuit board

(7)

RDS(on)

drain-source on-state resistance

(8)

ESR

equivalent series resistance

(9)

V(BR)DSS

drain-source-substrate breakdown voltage

(10)

LR

resonant inductance

(11)

RG

gate resistor

(12)

RG,ext

external gate resistor

(13)

VDS

drain-source voltage

(14)

RG,on

external turn-on gate resistor

(15)

RG,off

external turn-off gate resistor

(16)

VIN

input voltage

(17)

VGS

gate-source voltage

(18)

POUT

output power

(19)

tdel_A/B

delay time between MOSFET A and B

(20)

Iprim

primary current

(21)

VOUT

output voltage

(22)

Vmain_trafo

voltage drop over main transformer on primary side

(23)

SR

synchronous rectification

(24)

VGS(th)

gate-source threshold voltage

(25)

Qg

gate charge

(26)

Pmax

maximum load

(27)

Eoss

energy stored in output capacitance of the MOSFET

(28)

trr

reverse recovery time

(29)

Qrr

reverse recovery charge

(30)

tdel_C/D

Delay time between MOSFET C and D

25